Heroes in a Lesson before Dying

Summary: An essay about the role of heroes in A Lesson Before Dying by Gaines.

" I was seventeen then . . . I was just one. Hoping and praying for the only hero [I] knew. I [can] still remember every bit of it, the warm evening, the people, the noise, the pride I saw in those faces"(Gaines 88-89).

As Grant Wiggins sat back at the bar, he reminisced about his childhood hero's. Out of this experience, much of the novel's themes are expressed. Heroes, or idols, are a very important part of life to many people. In a time and place where African-American's had very little to call their own, Jefferson represents a hero to the community in A Lesson Before Dying. An examination of a famous African-American hero, the way Jefferson changed the way Grant, and others in the quarter felt about the future of the race, prove this to be true.